Root of the Matter

Since 1925 Lancaster County has been the home of Roots(pronounced rutz) Market, a farmers' market with row after row of stalls selling fresh seasonal produce, meat, poultry and baked goods.

It is only open on Tuesday from 9 am until either 8 or 9 pm depending upon the season.

They only have what they have so don't expect anything that is out of season or much exotic produce. What they have is pretty good and the price is certainly right.

Amish IraMain hall at Roots Market

Carol's sister, Lois, goes almost every Tuesday so we sometimes tag along as she knows the best stands for the things we want to buy.

We are not big shoppers, except when it comes to food. For that we get so excited we often overbuy.

Roots has some amazing vegetables, including the largest broccoli I have ever encountered. I bought some big broccoli, but not the "double giganto" which just seemed impossible to deal with.>

Bac Ira3 Mile Island broccoli?

We are generally disappointed by supermarket fruit so we often go to orchards. Several orchards sell at Roots so there are many varieties of apples on hand.

Bac IGKeep the Doctor away!

Since they have samples, I got to taste and select the ones that seemed freshest.

We have gotten wonderful liver, chicken liver and pork at Roots. The selection is not huge but what they have is very fresh and ready to cook. There are also a number of prepared foods that you can take home and pop into the oven or microwave.

Chicken LittleSensenig Poultry

In addition to toys and quilts and snack foods, Roots has an amazing selection of sweets and baked goods. We even found halfway decent bagels and, wonder of wonders BIALYS!!!(If you don't understand a bialy, just look it up on Google. Slice it, toast it and top liberally with butter and you will be a fan. We don't often go for sweets but I did sample my first Whoopee Pie(probably my last but it was fine). Amish and other Pennsylvania Dutch people are known for their baking and Roots has a great cross section of cakes, pies, cookies and buns.

Bac IGBaked goods, anyone?

Roots is fun but it is also a practical place to shop. Just don't go when you are hungry! Roots is located at 705 Graystone Road in Manheim. Their website is www.rootsmarket.com. From our many years shopping at South Philadelphia's 9th Street(Italian) Market we learned that what at first seems like recreation becomes more of a quick shopping trip as the novelty wears off. No matter! You can't go wrong at Roots.

Related Stories

Featured Story

Get 'Today's Front Page' in your inbox

This newsletter is sent every morning at 6 a.m. and includes the morning's top stories, a full list of obituaries, links to comics and puzzles and the most recent news, sports and entertainment headlines.

optionalCheck here if you do not want to receive additional email offers and information.See our privacy policy

Thank you for signing up for 'Today's Front Page'

To view and subscribe to any of our other newsletters, please click here.